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A German Rushes Past Skiing’s Dominant Woman

SCHLADMING, Austria — Maria Höfl-Riesch of Germany beat the overall World Cup leader, Tina Maze of Slovenia, to win the super combined on Friday at the Alpine skiing world championships with an aggregate time of 2 minutes 39.92 seconds. The 2010 Olympic gold medalist in the discipline, Höfl-Riesch edged Maze, who was tied for first with Anna Fenninger of Austria after the downhill leg, by 46-hundredths of a second.

“I did not think it was possible to win gold because Tina has been strong the whole season,” Höfl-Riesch said after the race.

Nicole Hosp finished third, winning Austria’s first medal of the world championships. Julia Mancuso finished eighth and was the top-placing American.

It was Höfl-Riesch’s second win and third top-three finish of the season. Maze has won seven races and stood atop the podium an additional 10 times this winter. With 1,694 World Cup points and 11 World Cup races left in the season, Maze is poised to eclipse Hermann Maier’s record for most individual World Cup points in a season. In the winter of 2000, Maier, of Austria, racked up a record-breaking 2,000 points.

The super combined consists of a downhill run and a slalom leg on the same day. The racer with the best aggregate time wins. The event is designed to determine the best all-around skier, in that it measures speed and technical abilities in one event.

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There has been talk among officials of ski racing’s governing body of eliminating the super combined in the next few seasons. To wit: in 2012 there were three super-combined races on the men’s World Cup schedule; this year there is only one.

But Höfl-Riesch said the discipline was relevant. “To win a medal is difficult, but I think the super combined should stay in big events,” she said.

She added: “I can be fast in downhill and slalom. There’s not many girls who can do this.”

Höfl-Riesch was surprised by her victory Friday. She was disqualified from four of six previous races, and Maze has been the dominant woman on the World Cup tour this season.

When Höfl-Riesch saw her name appear on the leader board as the super-combined champion, she was overwhelmed by sentiment — and relieved. It was a victory hard won.

“Everything went so fast,” she said. “I can’t describe the emotions.”

A version of this article appears in print on February 9, 2013, on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: A German Rushes Past Skiing’s Dominant Woman. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe